Journal of Student Research 2021

Demographic Analysis of Bias and Privilege at a Small Midwestern University 11 people around them. If not recognized, this can cause white people to feel a sense of superiority over minority groups. Kendall (2002) states that if privilege is not acknowledged and accepted it can lead to the silencing of minorities, the belittling of people of color’s worth, and the illusion that white people and their actions are the norm. It is important for white students to address white privilege and its effect on campus climate because if students do not address their privilege, they can make other students feel uncomfortable and potentially engage in racial bias. In this study, four subcategories of white privilege were examined: willingness to confront white privilege, anticipated costs of white privilege (perceived social costs to individuals), awareness of white privilege, and white privilege remorse. These concepts are important to address because on predominately white campuses, white privilege is common and can appear in several places. Campus climate is a tool used to evaluate how students, faculty, and staff view interactions on their campus (Grand Valley State University, 2018) and how those interactions meet individual’s standards in regard to how well they feel their potential and needs are respected (University of California, 2014). Campus climate surveys can be used to examine dialogue, encounters, and academic interactions with staff, faculty, administration, and students, which is important when assessing an individual’s comfortability on campus. Oaks (2017) states that when addressing campus climate, it is important to address psychological climate. Psychological climate differs from campus climate because it focuses on how an individual student sees campus climate, whereas campus climate looks at a multitude of peoples’ feelings about the campus. Thus, it is important to address the psychological climate for those of minority groups may be vastly different from the average score. Campus climate is also important because it can influence a student’s success. Hurtado (2005) found that students with positive encounters with peers and positive attitudes of their campus environment tended to thrive in college. Specifically, they performed higher in areas of problem-solving, perspective taking, and they had increased interest in social issues at their university. On the other hand, students who see their institution’s campus climate as negative and have experienced negative encounters with peers can experience negative impacts on their college experience. Individuals are at a greater risk of having lower grade point averages and lower graduation rates when they are exposed to racism on their campus (Brown et al., 2005). Current Study In the current study, self-reported perceptions of racial/ethnicity bias toward three minority groups and white privilege on a small college campus was collected. Five exploratory questions were examined related to perceptions of bias toward minority groups on campus: R1) Which minority group receives the greatest amount of bias on this campus? R2) Do gender differences in perceptions of bias exist on this campus? Campus Climate